Sunrise
by SerenityInTheBlack
Summary: Post-boiling rock, Suki and Zuko enjoy some quality time together.


**Name: **Sunrise  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, I am nothing. I am one with the gestalt. Sue him  
**Archives:** Sure, just let me know where  
**Summary:** Post-boiling rock, Suki and Zuko enjoy some quality time together.  
**Note:** This is the second in a series of oneshots that I'm writing to deal with various minor or major issues and plot-points from the series. The first being 'Breaking Point' which details the kind of things I think Azula would have put Suki through. Oddly enough, while I have at least one more planned, that one also deals with Suki's arrival back at the Western Air Temple, and how it affects Toph.  
**Note2: **I want to thank everyone who reviewed "Breaking Point' and your comments on characterisation. I hope I managed to achieve the same in this ficlet.

Zuko too a long deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth, just as uncle Iroh had taught him. He was sitting in lotus at the top of the cliff that lead to the Western Air temple, the edge of the cliff just inches away as he waited for the sun to rise. He had slipped away from the camp in the early hours, while everyone else was still celebrating the return of Hakoda and Suki. No one seemed quite sure what to make of their new friend, but had accepted him into the celebration anyway. The only problem was that Zuko really didn't feel like celebrating.

His thoughts kept drifting back to Mai, and to Azula. He hadn't realised untill she'd confronted him just how deep his feelings ran for her, and he hadn't realised untill she'd saved his life on the gondola how deep hers had ran either. His mouth twitched in a grin at the thought of his dark goddess knocking the Fire-nation troops about, but it wasn't a perfect image. No matter what else, he knew Azula wouldn't take Mai's betrayal lightly. If he was in her place, he'd probably argue that he was trying to save Azula and Ty Lee, that a Princess' life was more important than a Warden's order, but it would be a threadbare lie.

He took another deep breath as he considered what, if anything he could do about it when he heard the crunch of gravel behind him.

"Mind if I join you?" Suki asked, as he opened his eyes and glanced back at her in surprise. He nodded once, and she walked over and dropped into a lotus of her own.

"Can't sleep?" Zuko asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't that he had anything against the Kyoshi warrior, he just wasn't sure why she'd sought him out.

Suki shook her head. "It's my first sunrise in months, my first free sunrise. I want to enjoy it."

She said it nonchalantly enough, but Zuko wasn't entirely convinced. Even as she'd fought her way out of the prison alongside them, there was a shadow in her eyes, and while she was undoubtably the best person to fight Ty Lee to a standstill, he knew from what Azula had told him of the capture of the Kyoshi Warriors that lead to the conquest of Ba Sing Se that she'd taken a personal interest in Suki while she was incarcerated at the Boiling Rock.

"I can understand that. Even as a child I used to love watching the sun come up. It wasn't untill a few weeks ago that I learnt why." Learning from the Dragons and the Sun Warriors had given him a new perspective, not only on Firebending as an art and a skill, but also on a more philosophical level. The sun was the ultimate expression of Fire in the natural world, given form and skill by Dragons and taught to humans as Firebending. He didn't elaborate his thoughts to Suki, and she didn't ask him to. It was, he reflected, a companionable silence.

They sat quietly for a few moments, even as the sky began turning lighter as the sun approached the horizon.

"I need to ask you something," Suki suddenly said, and Zuko looked at her in surprise. "Sokka tells me you're in this for the long haul, and so am I. One way or another that means we're due a rematch with Azula somewhere down the line." She paused and he nodded wondering where this is going. "I know you fought her on the gondola, so I'm guessing you've got no great love for your sister, but I need you to give me the first crack at her next time we cross paths."

Zuko said nothing as he thought about it for a few moments. Suki didn't seem to mind giving him the time, so he decided to really think about it. One of the things he learned the hard way was that he spent too much time making rash decisions, and not enough time thinking about them, and he was trying to change that. Not because he wanted to turn into an introspective, nor because he wanted to change his personality, but because he wanted to be able to say the right thing at the right time.

"I think it'd be a bad idea to take on Azula by yourself," he finally said, and a frown crossed Suki's face as her mouth opened. Whatever she was going to say, she stopped before she did and nodded once at him.

"Point taken," she said. "Even though I'm pretty sure I can take her when I'm not badly malnourished and weak from lack of training and other things. I couldn't beat her the first time round, but I really didn't know what I was up against then. I do this time."

"What did she do to you?" Zuko asked, having her the emphasis she put on being malnourished and weakened. "A few weeks ago Azula said she was going to the Boiling Rock to have a chat with her favorite Kyoshi Warrior."

"She didn't break me," Suki snapped, interrupting him.

"I didn't say she did," Zuko replied quickly. "She came back really angry after a week or so," he said by way of clarification.

It was Suki's turn to take a deep breath, and once she had, he could see the calm returning to her eyes. "Azula seemed to take sport in trying to break my spirit. Tried to convince me that Sokka and Aang were dead, that Appa had been turned into lunch," she finally explained. "But she told one too many lie, and I realised that above all else, Azula always,"

"Always lies," Zuko finished for her, and she looked at him in surprise. "You think I didn't learn that growing up with her?" he asked, an almost wry grin on his face.

"Don't tell Sokka okay?" She said. "He can be a worrier, and I'm more or less over what she tried to do. I don't need him to flip over this."

"All right," Zuko said with a small nod. "And next time we go up against Azula, why don't we both take first crack at her, take away all of her advantages, and remind her that actions have consequences."

Suki gave him a smile as the first rays of sunlight peaked over the horizon. "It's a deal Zuko." she said, as the both closed their eyes, took a deep breath, and enjoyed the start of the day.

**-finis-**


End file.
